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Open Forum 2 www .oup.com/elt/openfor um © Oxford University Press 2006 Open Forum 2 Web Site Transcript Chapter 7 A = Professor B = Dr. Herman Nash, guest speaker A: OK, let’s get started. I’ve invited a guest speaker to our class today. His name is Dr. Herman Nash, and he’s a historical linguist. Dr. Nash is going to talk to us about the topic of language change. Thank you for joining us, Dr. Nash. B: A pleasure to be here. A: Can you begin by telling us what a historical linguist does? B: Well, one of the things we do is study how languages change over time. You all may or may not notice it, but the languages we speak—no matter what languages they are—they don’t stay the same for very long . . . they’re always changing. Some of these changes are easy to observe. For instance, new words are being added to our language all the time to meet the needs of speakers . . . for instance, words relating to technology, like “fax” or “cell phone,” are recent additions to English . . . they haven’t been for around very long at all. And think about words related to computers and the Internet . . . they’re also constantly appearing. I mean . . . who knew what a “podcast,” or a “blog” was even a few years back? Now, there are other types of language change that are more difficult to notice because they’re much more gradual. They come about over long periods of time, and they’re only really noticeable when we compare language samples from, say . . . different centuries. For instance, if we compare the English we speak today to the English spoken by, say . . . William Shakespeare—in the 16th century—we’d see lots of differences . . . different words, different pronunciation, even different grammar. A: Excuse me, Dr . Nash, may I ask a question? B: Sure. A: So over the next 200 years, we can expect many new words to be added to English . . . but will English continue to change as much as it has in the past? I mean, will many of the words we use now be replaced by new words in 200 years? Will the grammar be different? B: Well . . . it’s hard to pr edict exactly how a language will change over that much time. We know that new words will be developed. One of the interesting ways that this happens is through slang—informal expressions that are typically used by a small number of people. Often times, a slang term starts to become more and more common, until it eventually becomes part of the standard language used by the majority of speakers. Another way that a language changes is when words are borrowed from other languages. For instance, a large number of the English words we use nowadays were originally borrowed from French. These processes will continue to take place in the future. So, yes, English may be very different in 200 years. A: That’s very interes ting. Now I’ve heard it s aid that some of the changes happening in English are not necessarily good. Don’t some people believe that English is being “corrupted”— that it’s changing for the worse and . . . well . . . getting “dumbed down”? B: Y es, people have been saying t hat for centuries. One important thing to remember is that language change is a natural process. It has always taken place. And I don’t see any reason to see this as a process of “corruption” or “deterioration.” Over history, people have often taken a negative attitude toward language change . . . and there have been many attempts to stop the changes from taking place. To give you a recent example . . . in 1994 the French government instructed its citizens not to “corrupt” French by using terms like le computer and le walkman . . . words that had be en borrowed from English. Needless to say, most attempts like these to stop language change have failed. continues on next page
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Transcript of of2_ts07
7/27/2019 of2_ts07
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/of2ts07 1/2Open Forum 2 www.oup.com/elt/openforum © Oxford University Press 2006
Open Forum 2Web Site Transcript
Chapter 7
A = Professor
B = Dr. Herman Nash, guest speaker
A: OK,let’sgetstarted.I’veinvitedaguestspeakertoourclasstoday.HisnameisDr.HermanNash,andhe’sahistoricallinguist.Dr.Nashisgoingtotalktousaboutthetopicoflanguagechange.Thankyouforjoiningus,Dr.Nash.
B: Apleasuretobehere.
A: Canyoubeginbytellinguswhatahistoricallinguistdoes?
B: Well,oneofthethingswedoisstudyhowlanguageschangeovertime.Youallmayormaynotnoticeit,butthelanguageswespeak—nomatterwhatlanguagestheyare—theydon’tstaythesameforverylong...they’realwayschanging.
Someofthesechangesareeasytoobserve.Forinstance,newwordsarebeingaddedtoourlanguageallthetimetomeettheneedsofspeakers...forinstance,wordsrelatingtotechnology,like“fax”or“cellphone,”arerecentadditionstoEnglish...theyhaven’tbeenforaroundverylongatall.AndthinkaboutwordsrelatedtocomputersandtheInternet...they’realsoconstantlyappearing.Imean...whoknewwhata“podcast,”ora“blog”wasevenafewyearsback?
Now,thereareothertypesoflanguagechangethataremoredifficulttonoticebecausethey’remuchmoregradual.Theycomeaboutoverlongperiodsoftime,andthey’reonlyreallynoticeablewhenwecomparelanguagesamplesfrom,say...differentcenturies.Forinstance,ifwecomparetheEnglishwespeaktodaytotheEnglishspokenby,say...WilliamShakespeare—inthe16thcentury—we’dseelotsofdifferences...differentwords,differentpronunciation,evendifferentgrammar.
A: Excuseme,Dr.Nash,mayIaskaquestion?
B: Sure.
A: Sooverthenext200years,wecanexpectmanynewwordstobeaddedtoEnglish...butwillEnglishcontinuetochangeasmuchasithasinthepast?Imean,willmanyofthewordsweusenow bereplacedbynewwordsin200years?Willthegrammarbedifferent?
B: Well...it’shardtopredictexactlyhowalanguagewillchangeoverthatmuchtime.Weknowthatnewwordswillbedeveloped.Oneoftheinterestingwaysthatthishappensisthroughslang—informalexpressionsthataretypicallyusedbyasmallnumberofpeople.Oftentimes,aslangtermstartsto becomemoreandmorecommon,untiliteventually becomespartofthestandardlanguageusedbythe
majorityofspeakers.
Anotherwaythatalanguagechangesiswhenwordsareborrowedfromotherlanguages.Forinstance,alargenumberoftheEnglishwordsweusenowadayswereoriginallyborrowedfromFrench.Theseprocesseswillcontinuetotakeplaceinthefuture.So,yes,Englishmaybeverydifferentin200years.
A: That’sveryinteresting.NowI’vehearditsaidthatsomeofthechangeshappeninginEnglisharenotnecessarilygood.Don’tsomepeoplebelievethatEnglishisbeing“corrupted”—thatit’schangingfortheworseand...well...getting“dumbeddown”?
B: Yes,peoplehavebeensayingthatforcenturies.Oneimportantthingtorememberisthatlanguagechangeisanaturalprocess.Ithasalwaystakenplace.AndIdon’tseeanyreasontoseethisasaprocessof“corruption”or“deterioration.”
Overhistory,peoplehaveoftentakenanegativeattitudetowardlanguagechange...andtherehave beenmanyattemptstostopthechangesfromtakingplace.Togiveyouarecentexample...in1994theFrenchgovernmentinstructeditscitizensnotto“corrupt”Frenchbyusingtermslike le computerandle walkman...wordsthathadbeenborrowedfrom
English.Needlesstosay,mostattemptslikethesetostoplanguagechangehavefailed.
continues on next page
7/27/2019 of2_ts07
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/of2ts07 2/2
Open Forum 2 www.oup.com/elt/openforum
© Oxford University Press 2006
A:HaveanyattemptsbeenmadetokeepEnglishfromchanging?
B: Yes!TwofamousexamplesareJonathanSwift—the18thcenturyBritishwriter—andSamuelJohnson,whowroteaDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguagein1755.Swiftwroteafamousessaycallingforthe
establishmentofanofficialorganizationwiththeauthoritytodeclarewhatisproperandwhatisnotproperEnglish.
AsforJohnson...wellhehasafamousquoteintheprefacetohisdictionaryinwhichhesays,“Languages,likegovernments,haveanaturaltendencytodegeneration;wehavelongpreservedourconstitution,letusmakeourstrugglesforourlanguage.”
A: Interesting.Well,Idon’tthinkweallspeaklikeSamuelJohnsondid,soIguesshiswarningdidn’thelpmuch.
B: No,Iguessnot.
A: Thankyou,Dr.Nash.Doesanyonehaveanyquestions...
Web Site Transcript Chapter 7
